


Legacy Of A Soul

by lyrical_pen



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Chance Meetings, Demons, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, F/M, Family Secrets, How Do I Tag, Hurt/Comfort, My First Fanfic, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, POV Original Female Character, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 19:15:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 21,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28943553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyrical_pen/pseuds/lyrical_pen
Summary: Things have been too quiet for hunters even if it shouldn't be. While killing some down time in a town, Sam happens to meets a fellow female hunter by the name of Church one night while Dean's out having fun.Church has a problem, one she's not sure she can get out of. Her soul was promised to a demon long before she was ever born, and hers happens to be the last one in a long line it needs. Running into Sam and Dean as her days are running out seems like more than coincidence. Especially when it turns out this demon is one Dean met in Hell, and has a bit of a connection to the Winchester brothers as well.Sam figures maybe he can help her save her soul and save her from going to Hell even when months ago he couldn't do it for his brother since these days things have changed. He's got those new abilities to deal with demons, and he may end up being her best shot at surviving...
Relationships: Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester, Sam Winchester/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was my very first attempt at writing any sort of fanfic, and started out as sort of a joke back in 2009. It's probably terrible, and moving it here from fanfiction.net, it will be slightly edited to clean it up and reworked in spots that make me cringe as I look to finish it so many years later. It was called just "Legacy" over there, and you can find it still over there. The name for the OFC Church used to be Chuch, a friend's nickname she so wonderfully allowed me to use back then.  
> It's also sort of a prequel to the other stories because while it was never finished, it is in this story is where Dean first meets Manda Chambers.  
> Disclaimer: The Winchesters, and actual show characters are **not** my characters/creations. Hopefully you enjoy the OFC and any other original characters, and the written purely just-for-fun story.  
> Feedback/comments welcome!

It had been over a week since the last job, and it wasn’t like they ever got much of a vacation, but this was as close as it got to one, and both Winchester brothers were growing restless.  
Sure, Sam and Dean had each said they wanted out of this life numerous times, but when they weren’t hunting down something of the supernatural kind it was like twiddling thumbs for them. Dean had never really known anything else, and all the traces Sam had of a short-lived normal life had faded away in the past few years.  
Cruising along highways and back roads, Sam and Dean had come to this town on a whim hoping a job would surface. They had arrived a day earlier, followed a few leads from the local paper but those turned out to be dead ends. Dean figured they’d stick around for a few days, hustle a few games of pool to make some cash, and that he’d at least pick up a woman or two and have a little fun. Sam could tell Dean was itching for a hunt, he was too, but they couldn’t exactly find one. It wasn’t for a lack of trying. Even if there was an upcoming war on the way, somewhere weird was going on. The world they knew was too quiet, which usually meant one thing… a shit load of trouble was on its way and it was only a matter of time until it surfaced. 

[ - ]

That night Sam and Dean were out at a hole in the wall of a bar. They’d finished playing their games of pool, won a fair amount of money off two men who probably would have won against anyone else. The men had been good players but neither had been on the same level as Dean by himself, never mind when it became a brotherly effort. The boys had learned with to hustle with the best and worst them thanks to their late father and spending a lot of time in such dives like the one they were at.  
Sam was now sat at a table nursing a beer, searching the usual websites for even the hint of a job on his laptop, but there was nothing on the wires. Even Bobby had called the other day to say things were quiet for all the other hunters and it troubled all of them with what must be brewing.  
Shutting down his laptop, Sam quickly spotted his brother at the bar. Dean was talking to a woman who was buying into whatever story he was feeding her about himself tonight. Sam knew it was only a matter of time before his brother and his next conquest left. He was surprised they hadn’t already. It never seemed to take Dean very long to seal the deal.  
He watched them for a moment. It still amazed him how natural his brother was at this even though he’d watched his routine too many times and how easy it was for Dean to pull chicks in with the flash of a grin and a cheesy line to hook them. Sam had to admire it even if it wasn’t his style. His big brother was just that kind of guy, and it never seemed to fail him. Only about two months since he'd gotten out of Hell and Dean was back at it like he hadn’t missed a beat.  
Sam’s eyes scanned the bar as he finished his beer out of force of habit. He figured he could leave Dean to have his fun and head back to the motel room for the night. Maybe stop in the diner across the street from the motel like he’d done the night before. Researching things and keeping his mind sharp seemed to go by faster sometimes when the coffee kept flowing and he didn’t have to listen to Dean’s snoring or bad dream murmurs from across the room.  
He gave Dean the nod, started to gather his stuff together. Sam saw Dean excuse himself for a moment and then head over to him.  
“Bailing already, Sammy?” Dean asked with a slightly sour tone.  
“Yeah, Dean,” Sam said.  
“You know, you could try sticking around a little longer, maybe have some fun. Uh, Crystal, or is it Shauna? No, uh, it’s… Jenna, she has a roommate she’s willing to set you up with.”  
Sam sighed. “Don’t worry about it. Have fun. See you in the morning.”  
Dean shook his head. “Fine, Sam. But you’re going to miss a hell of a time, they’re college cheerleaders. Go team.” Dean grinned.  
Sam gave Dean look that said it was typical. “And what's your angle tonight, Dean?”  
“I’m a music video director, working with an up and coming hot star, looking for some talent and you’re my assistant.” Dean chuckled,  
Sam laughed. “Sure. Later, Dean.”  
“Have fun sleeping alone, Sammy.” Dean headed back to the bar and the girl.  
Sam picked up his stuff and headed over to the door. Before he left he heard Dean loudly say he’d just fired his assistant and was now free for the night.  
Some things never changed, and Dean’s tactics certainly fit into that category. But the same could be said for Sam as he was on his own again while his big brother got lucky once again.  
There was Ruby he sort of had a thing with sometimes, but even now it had been a awhile. It had definitely been a bit longer than the two weeks of searching for a hunt. And it was starting to get to him. While he wished he could be more like Dean who often never felt nothing more than a physical connection, he just wasn’t built that way.  
Sam walked out of the bar and down the road back towards the motel. It was a ten minute walk at most, but it was just enough time to feel his loneliness set in and pain from the past over lost loves. When he was feeling this way, the younger Winchester knew he was in for a long night.  
As Sam got closer to his destination, his eyes shifted between two neon signs. He had a choice, spend some time in the diner or sit in the room that was almost identical to the nearly every single motel or hotel room they’d ever stayed in. Eyes on the open sign instead of the vacancy one, the choice was easy - the diner it was.  
Sam settled into a booth and watched as a waitress appeared almost instantly. It never took long in these places, especially at this time of night. He ordered a cup of coffee which took the waitress all of a minute to get to him. It wasn’t busy by a long shot, but there were at least six other stray customers scattered about.  
Taking out his few books and laptop, Sam got to work. There was always more research to be done and he didn’t mind doing it. Sure, Dean liked to refer to him as some nerdy encyclopedia of weird knowledge, but it had saved their asses more than a few times on the job. It never hurt to stay on top of lore or learn something new, so he drifted back into the world he knew all too well - one of evil and supernatural things and beings.  
Two hours and three cups of coffee later, Sam took a break. He’d been caught up in translating some Latin text that had to do with demons and their activities or lack of from time to time. Not the most fascinating stuff to read, but it might explain something about what was going on lately.  
He hadn’t noticed that the place was pretty much empty now. Besides him, there were only three other customers left. Two men sat in one booth whispering across the table at each other. There was a woman in another booth hunched over a book. Sam had seen her in here the night before doing the same thing. They’d exchanged a few glances last night, he’d noticed that she had been looking at him and scanning the room just as he had. Yet, tonight she seemed lost in whatever she was reading. There was something about the way she was sitting there though that reminded him somewhat of himself, on alert and guarded while deeply consumed in the material before her. It crossed his mind that she could be a hunter, but the chances of that seemed slim. They always were. It happened from time to time, but usually meeting another hunter by chance just didn’t happen.  
Whoever she was, he noticed she was attractive. She was thin but fit, had dark shoulder length hair, an olive complexion, and had some sort of mysterious vibe going on that made him look at her a little longer than he normally would at most women. She’d smiled briefly at him last night, and had at least seemed friendly enough even if they hadn’t exchanged words.  
Sam decided he’d wait a few more minutes and then pass by her booth on his way to the men’s room since she was sitting in the last one that was located closest to the restrooms and probably another exit. He’d also try to get a look at what she was reading to see if he could break the ice with that. Or maybe he’d just go ahead say hello for the hell of it. Dean was right; he could try to have a little fun sometimes.  
Heading towards the restroom area, walking casually by and passing the woman in the booth, Sam peeked at what lay on the table before her. A few old books were stacked on the corner of the table, but one lay open before her as she wrote down in a notebook. Sam could see faded text that looked a lot like Latin on one page, well from his upside down view anyhow. There was also a demonic portrait on the opposite page. He continued to walk to the men’s room and now wondered just who the hell this woman actually was and why she was reading about demons.


	2. Chapter 2

After relieving his coffee-filled bladder and taking a moment to make sure he still looked somewhat presentable despite the hour, Sam left the restroom.  
He slowly walked past the woman this time getting a better glance at what she was reading. He was intrigued to find it was Latin and it had to do with demons, a real mean one by the look of it.  
“Can I help you with something?” The woman spoke without looking up, continued writing in the notebook.  
“Uh…” Sam realized he had stopped at the side of her booth instead of strolling by at a slow pace. “Can I ask why you’re studying demons?” _So much for saying hi._  
“Even though it’s none of your business, Sam Winchester, I’m researching them for the pretty much the same reasons you are in that booth over there.” She pointed a finger to where he had been sitting and where his stuff still sat.  
Sam tried to hide the surprise on his face as she used his name. She knew who he was, and he wondered how. He’d have to play this cool, draw it out of her. He wished Dean was here. Dean had always known how to handle this type of element of surprise better than he did. “You’re a hunter then?”  
“Yes.” She finally looked up at him. “So, Sam, maybe you should grab your stuff and join me for awhile. I have a feeling we can find lots to talk about.” She smiled at him boldly.  
“Sure.” Sam headed back to his booth and collected his stuff. His guard was up the moment she had called him by his name, but his curiosity was peaked. It wasn’t too often that he ran into someone he didn’t know but seemed to know who he was and what his life was about.  
As Sam sat across from her in the booth, she called out to the waitress and ordered more coffee for both of them.  
“I bet you’re wondering who I am and how I know who you are.” The woman got straight to the two questions there were now burning a hole through Sam’s head.  
He nodded. “Yeah, about that…”  
“Well, I recognized you. I heard about you before from a mutual friend, Bobby Singer. Plus you Winchester boys are quite well known throughout the hunting circles. I may have done a little digging, come across your picture once I heard about you and your brother.”  
Sam made a mental note that he’d have to call Bobby and get some background info on this woman, once he learned her name that is.  
“So you know Bobby?” he asked.  
“Which hunter doesn’t?” She returned his question with a question, smiled again. “We go back awhile, you can ask him. I know you’ll call him later.”  
Sam now guessed she was a good hunter, she had just figured his move for either later tonight or tomorrow morning. “And the name I’ll use?”  
“Church. No, it’s not my real name but that’s the one I go by,” she said, playing absently with her empty cup.  
Sam thought about it for a moment, trying to remember if he had heard Bobby mention her. He didn’t think so. The only hunters Bobby had ever seemed to mention by name were ones they already knew or ones who had known his father.  
“Nice to meet you, Church.” He felt a bit more at ease now that he knew her name.  
“Likewise, Sam. I’ve always wanted to meet one or both of the gorgeous Winchester boys.” Church grinned at him.  
Sam noted she’d call them gorgeous. He was willing to bet he’d probably blushed at the compliment. After all, he thought she was quite gorgeous herself. Not that he was about to blurt it out in return.  
“So, what brings you to this town?” He wanted to know what she was doing here, wondering if the same articles had drawn her to this place as it had him and Dean.  
“Just following a few leads, how about you?”  
“Same.” Sam paused, looked her in the eyes. “Find anything?”  
Church shook her head. “Sadly no, things have been too quiet lately.”  
Sam nodded in agreement. “It’s weird isn’t it? No traces of anything demonic or supernatural anywhere when there’s always one job after another waiting.”  
“You get the feeling something is coming? Something really big?” Church asked him.  
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve been searching for.” Sam had a theory brewing in his head after plenty of nights of research. He didn’t want to give it away though. Maybe he was right and maybe he was wrong, but for now he kept it to himself.  
“So where’s your other half? I don’t see Dean.” Church changed the subject now.  
“Oh, he’s uh, enjoying the local sights,” a bit of laugh escaped from Sam.  
Church laughed. “Sights, huh? What about you, Sam, no sights to enjoy?”  
“No,” he sighed.  
“Well, it can be…,” she paused for a moment, “be sort of difficult when you live the kind of life we do.” Church sounded a bit pained as she spoke the words.  
Sam nodded, “Yeah… it’s difficult.” He did find it that way since he wasn’t like Dean. He wanted more than a one night stand, but this job and this life didn’t exactly allow him to have that. The few connections Sam had made before hadn’t lasted longer than a few days since he always had to leave. If he did stay in contact with them, it only seemed to get harder to keep in touch as time went on.  
Silence hung between them as they both sat there thinking of how lonely life on the road and being wrapped up in hunting could be. As they looked at each other both of them could see a loneliness in the other’s eyes that was similar but neither wanted to admit to having.  
The waitress finally appeared with a fresh pot of coffee, apologizing for the delay as a fresh pot had to be made. She filled both of their cups and left them alone again.  
“So, what’s the story with the demon you were reading about?” asked Sam.  
He noticed her knuckles turn white from the tight grip she suddenly took on handle of her cup before she took a sip.  
“No story, just a bit of research.” Church put her cup back down. “What about what you’ve been reading up on?”  
Sam guessed she was lying by the way she had gripped the cup and then how she turned his question around back to him. He wasn’t going to call her on it yet though.  
“I’m just looking for anything that might shed some light on this sudden break of activity, but no luck so far.” He didn’t tell a complete lie, but he didn’t tell the complete truth either.  
They looked each other in the eye again, both of them knowing they were lying to the other.  
“Well, if you want to spend the rest of the night talking and trading stories we can, but I think it’s time I head back to my room for the night.” Church started to pack her books into a large backpack. “Been a long day.”  
“Yeah, think I’ll head out too.” Sam left some money on the table figuring it would cover both their bills. “Are you saying somewhere close to here?”  
“Thanks, Sam, that’s sweet of you, but I could have gotten it.” Church got up, picked up her bag. “And yeah, the place across the street actually.”  
“No trouble.” He smiled back at her as he stood up from the booth, picking up his things. “We’re staying there, too. Mind if I walk you back?”  
Church smiled softly. “Might as well since you’re going there too.”  
They left the diner together and walked across the street to the motel in silence.  
“Don’t you get sick of all these drab looking places?” Church asked him as they got close to where her room was.  
“Yes!” Sam exclaimed. “They all look the same to me now. I wish we could stay somewhere else but you know how it is.”  
“Exactly. After about ten of these places, you’ve seen them all.”  
They reached her door, both of them stopped.  
“Well, this one’s mine.” Church unlocked her door, tossed her bag inside and on the floor. “Guess this is good-night, Sam. It was good to finally meet you.” She held out a hand to him.  
Sam shook her hand, taking into account that she was just a few doors down from his own room. “It was good meeting you too. Good-night, Church.” He turned and started to walk away.  
“Hey, Sam,” Church called out to him.  
“Yeah?” He stopped, turning around to look at her.  
“I… uh… I’ll probably stop by your room in the morning before I head out of town, meet Dean if he’s around. Is that okay? ”  
_Great, of course she wants to meet Dean…_ “Sure. If you need anything we’re over in number eight.”  
Church nodded. “Thanks for the chat, Sam. Have a good night.”  
“You too. Night.” He smiled and then watched as she went inside her room, locking the door behind her.  
Sam walked over to the vending machine, bought a few things and then went to his and Dean’s room.  
Once he was inside, Sam flicked on the TV, lay back on his bed and thought about Church. They hadn’t talked for very long but he was sure she was hiding something, and that it probably had to do with whatever demon she had been reading about. He figured Bobby might know and decided he’d call him in the morning since he was now tired. Even as Sam drifted off to sleep, he kept the mysterious and beautiful woman named Church that he’d just met on his mind. 

[ - ]

Church was sprawled across the bed in her room reading over more books she had left behind while she had been at the diner. She was trying hard to concentrate on the words on the pages before her, but her mind was stuck on Sam Winchester. She hadn’t expected to run into him in this town, and certainly not during this downtime. Maybe it was a sign, maybe he could help her. Or maybe things were about to turn into a chaos that couldn’t be tamed.  
Church didn’t know what was going on, but she was glad to have finally met the man. It didn’t hurt that he turned out to be even more attractive in person than the mug shot she’d come across of him online.  
Turning her attention back to her books, Church thought for a moment about calling Bobby to ask him to keep her secret, but she knew he would keep it to himself. He could be trusted that way.  
The Latin couldn’t hold her focus any longer because she was caught up in thinking about Sam and why she’d met him tonight, but soon her heavy eyes took over and she was sound asleep.

Her eyes opened and she found herself staring into a pair of red ones, blood red to be exact.  
“Hello, Church.” The voice that spoke was raspy, and one she had heard enough over the years.  
“I’m dreaming, just like every other time. You’re not really here.”  
Church shut her eyes again and reopened them to the glow of red eyes again bearing down into hers in the darkness of the room. She could tell he was sitting on the edge of the bed looking down at her.  
“Maybe it is a dream and maybe it isn’t. But either way, I’m here.” The voice was calm, cold, taunting.  
The bedside lamp turned on and Church could see the face of the man she hated to see. He always took the same form when he came to her and she despised it. She had to admit the face was handsome but the creature beneath it was not, and his real image wasn’t either.  
She started to reach for the weapon she kept under her pillow, but found her arms pinned to her sides when the demon raised his hand. Church struggled to move, but she couldn’t do more than wiggle against the invisible force that had her stuck.  
He grinned from ear to ear as he eyed her frozen in bed. “Aren’t you a pretty sight? All defenseless and stuck in your bed. Think I’ll keep you like this while we chat.”  
“You better kill me this time or I swear I’m going to send you back to Hell, you bastard,” her voice was stone cold and serious.  
“Promises, promises, didn’t you say that the last time?” He laughed at her and stroked a finger across her cheek.  
“I’ve found a way to do it. And this time I’ll make sure to send you back somewhere your sorry ass can’t ever climb out of, too.” It was her turn to laugh.  
“I doubt that, but you can try, darling. Just not tonight. You were right from the beginning, you’re dreaming.”  
“And we’re talking because?”  
“I thought I might give you one more chance to reconsider my offer. Yet, maybe I was wrong, maybe I should just take what I want instead.”  
He lay down beside her on the bed. It made her skin want to crawl, this vile creature beside her.  
“Never!” she spat out the word. “You can take your offer and…”  
He cut her off. “You will, especially since you don’t have a choice.”  
Another move of his hand and she was on her side facing him, still not able to move.  
“A few more days, Church and you’ll give me what I want.” He grinned sadistically, his eyes shining a brighter red than before. “Run if you want to, even though you’ve always known you could never outrun me. I do so like the thrill of hunting you down.”  
His laughter filled the room and her ears.  
“I’m going to enjoy sending your ass back down to the deepest pit of your home, you evil son of a bitch.” Anger filled her voice, and every fibre of her being.  
“My home? It’ll be yours too soon enough.” The demon smiled and his thunderous cackle filled the room again. “Sleep well, sweet Church, because it may be the last time you ever do… there’s no sleeping where you’ll be going.”  
Losing the appearance of the face he borrowed, the demon leaned in and kissed her forcefully as she lay there helpless unable to move or scream and worst of all, unable to stop him.

Church woke up screaming, sweaty, scared. She grabbed the salt gun under her pillow even though she knew it was useless. It still made her feel safer once she had it in her hands. She scanned the room nervously, but knew it had only been a dream, a horribly realistic dream. It had been almost a year since the last one, and even longer since Church had last met with the demon face-to-face.  
He’d left her alone for awhile, but she knew it wouldn’t last forever. And time had just run out. He had said he was coming for her in a few days, and he would get her. She had lied, she really didn’t have a way to send him back to Hell for good.  
Church wanted to scream, to curse and scream until she had no voice left, but knew it would do no good. She only had a few days to come up with a plan now.  
Then she remembered Sam, wondering if it was a coincidence, but believing that it was more that that right now. They had met for a reason earlier that night. She knew the stories about him and his powers. Maybe he was the answer she’d been looking for. If Sam wasn’t, then maybe at least he and Dean could help her find one that would work. They were known for it.  
She wondered if she could really let them in on her problem. It just didn’t seem fair to drag them into her mess, though. But she could call Bobby later and ask him if he thought the Winchester brothers might be able to help her. She didn’t have many choices left and time was running out.  
Looking at the clock, Church sighed. The nightmare of a dream would keep her from sleeping and have her replaying it as she thought of ways to stop the demon after her.  
She could still feel him beside her and his touch on her cheek. His voice and laughter rang in her head, and his scent clung to the insides of her nostrils. But the part that bugged her the most was that she could still taste him on her tongue.  
Church ran to the bathroom and threw up a few times before taking a very long shower in an attempt to wash away the invisible traces the demon had left her with.

[ - ]

Sam awakened to the sound of light snoring coming from the other bed in the room. He remembered vaguely hearing Dean come back in the early hours of the morning. He was used to Dean coming in early after leaving his latest female conquest before the sun rose. Whenever his brother was out, Sam always heard the motel door open wherever they were and then Dean settling in to crash and catch a few hours of sleep before getting up again to start the day.  
Around the time he’d heard the Impala roll into the parking lot, Sam had thought he heard a faint scream. Maybe he’d been dreaming, or maybe it was the TV in the room next door. He didn’t know if it was even real.  
No longer tired enough to go back to sleep, Sam got out of bed and made his way into the shower to start the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure I edited this right since I merged two chapters into one over here, but it's done.  
> Sam and Church have now met... things will get interesting soon with some of the female hunter's back story coming up soon.  
> Hope you're liking it. Thanks for reading. Comments welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally this demon had a made up name, but a reader suggested using an actual name to try keeping it a bit more real like the show would do it. (Is that canon? Lol) So it was changed... not sure if I ever really liked it, but if anyone has a better suggestion, I'm all ears.  
> Feedback welcomed and appreciated!

Surfing online for a trace of anything, Sam was killing time. He could always go grab breakfast by himself or bring something back, but figured he’d wait for Dean. Plus, he had to tell his brother about the female hunter he’d met last night. As the thought of Church crossed his mind, Sam figured it was time to call Bobby to get some background.  
He headed outside of the door to make the call. He listened to the phone ring a few times before Bobby picked up.  
“Hey, Bobby.”  
“Howdy, Sam. Everything alright?” Bobby asked.  
“Yeah everything’s fine. You?”  
“All quiet here, still trying to figure out what the hell is going on right now.”  
“You haven’t found anything?”  
“Dean’s stupidity rubbing off on you, Sam?” Bobby chuckled. “If there’d been anything I’d have called you boys, but there’s never been anything like this that I can find. It’s troublesome.”  
“I know,” Sam said. “So, Bobby, I need to ask you something.”  
“Shoot.”  
“I met another hunter last night. Woman named Church. She says she knows you.”  
“Church… yeah I know her. That it?”  
“Well, I wondered if you knew her story. What can you tell me about her?”  
Bobby sighed, was silent for a moment.  
“Church’s a good hunter, nice girl too. But listen, Sam, um, well, trouble tends to follow that girl around, so you boys be careful around her.”  
Sam wondered what he meant, but he knew Bobby wasn’t likely to elaborate any further.  
“Hmm… okay, thanks, Bobby.”  
“You boys need anything else, call,” Bobby paused as Sam heard the shuffle of papers in the background. “I’ll call you or Dean if I come across or hear anything on any wires.”  
“Alright, same goes for us. Thanks, Bobby.”  
“You got it. Bye, kid.”  
Sam disconnected the call, went back inside the room, and started to wonder about what Bobby had told him. He was willing to bet that whatever trouble Church might be in it had to do with the demon she’d been reading about.  
Sam decided that if she stopped by their room like she said she might, then he’d ask her about it again. He would also offer to help her with whatever it was if he could since he now had a few new powers that helped in dealing with demons.

[ - ]

Church walked over to room number eight with the intent of inviting Sam to breakfast, but upon noticing the Impala parked a few feet away, she realized she’d have to extend the invitation to the older Winchester brother as well.  
She had made up her mind after talking to Bobby a little while earlier. He’d told her that Sam and Dean would hear her out and help her if they could. But he’d also told her it was a long shot, because if he couldn’t help her, he wasn’t sure those boys could either with their demon killing knife or Sam’s abilities.  
She’d been willing to take the risk and confide in Sam, but if both brothers were available then maybe two heads would be better than one. Sam and Dean were well known for figuring out how to get out of difficult situations, and she was definitely in one that required their kind of help.  
Knocking on the door, Church hoped her nerve would remain strong if they agreed to come to breakfast.  
Sam opened the door and smiled warmly as he saw her. “Hey, Church.”  
“Mornin’, Sam.” Church smiled softly back at him.  
“Do you need anything or are you taking off already?” He asked, hoping she needed something so she’d stick around a little longer.  
“I, uh… I wondered if you and Dean maybe wanted to grab some breakfast before I go?”  
“Sure.”  
“Sammy, are you talking to yourself? ‘Cuz if you are then you’ve gotta get out more.” Dean’s voiced trailed out from the bathroom before he did.  
Sam rolled his eyes. “No, Dean, I’m talking to Church. The hunter I told you about from last night.”  
“Hello, Dean. Nice to put a face to the name finally,” Church said, peering in past Sam at a half-dressed Dean. Her eyes slightly widened at the sight of his naked chest a moment before he put on a shirt.  
Dean was good looking, had a nice body too from what she had just seen, but he just wasn’t as attractive as Sam was to her as she looked at him.  
Sam noticed the slight glint in Church’s eyes and how her lips formed a weak smirk at the sight of his brother, and he frowned a bit.  
Dean came over to the door. “So this is Church.” He looked at Sam with a weird expression, tapped him on the shoulder to move. “Hey, nice to meet you.” A million dollar grin spread across his face as he looked at gave her a once over, finding her cute.  
“So, Dean, I was just asking Sam if you guys wanted to get breakfast. It’ll be my treat.”  
“Yeah, I just need a minute.” Dean smiled at both Sam and Church before heading back into the room to put on his shoes and get his gun.  
“Okay,” Church said.  
Sam laughed and stepped out of the room. “You might regret the offer once he’s done ordering.”  
“We’ll see.” She laughed.  
Dean came out of the room, closing the door behind him. “Where are we going?”  
“Place across the street okay with you?”  
“Sure, it’s your treat.” Dean directed a smug grin at Church.  
Sam scoffed. “Figures,” he muttered.  
“What’s that, Sammy?” The older Winchester looked at the younger one with one brow raised in question.  
“Nothing,” Sam said dully. _You think she’s hot... here we go yet again..._  
“Let’s go, boys. There’s something I wanted to talk to the two of you about while we eat.” Church began to walk towards the diner.  
The brothers looked at each other strangely, both of them wondering what was up.  
“Huh,” they said simultaneously, following her across the street.

[ - ]

Church sat opposite the brothers in a booth at the diner.  
Sam had been right, Dean had ordered a full breakfast special plus a couple of sides. Sam had ordered a light breakfast with coffee, and so did she.  
“So, Church, what did you want to talk to us about?” Dean asked with a mouthful of food.  
“Nice, Dean.” Sam looked at his brother in disbelief. Dean’s behaviour didn’t surprise him anymore, but sometimes he just couldn’t believe the way his brother acted.  
“What?” Dean looked at Sam, shrugged, and continued to chew. “She wanted to talk, so she might as well.”  
“It’s okay, Sam. I was going to get to that... I just don’t know how to start.” Church poked at the food on her plate with the fork.  
“Anywhere,” it came out muffled from Dean as he continued to eat.  
Sam smiled sarcastically at his brother, and then looked to Church. “Just start wherever you think you should.”  
Church nodded. “Okay… um, well what did Bobby have to say?”  
Dean coughed, almost choked. “How’d she…”  
Sam chuckled and rolled his eyes. “I told you the story, Dean.” Then he eyed Church, “Bobby didn’t say much, but did he warn us to be careful, told me trouble tends to follow you around.”  
She was silent for a moment, trying to figure out what to say.  
“He’s right, you should be careful. I shouldn’t try to ask you guys to get involved. It’s not exactly fair.” Church looked at both of them.  
Sam could see pain, sadness, and fear in her eyes for a moment before she tried to collect herself without falling apart before them.  
“Well, we happen to be experts in the field of knowing a little about the kind of trouble that follows someone around.” Dean smirked at her, trying to lighten the mood.  
Church laughed weakly. “Yeah, that’s true.”  
“Why don’t you tell us about this trouble of yours and we’ll decide if we need to be careful or not?” Dean gave her another award winning smile.  
Sam nodded in agreement and remained quiet, waiting for her to begin.  
“All right,” Church took a deep breath, collected her thoughts on where to start.  
“Obviously, Sam, you would have realized I was lying last night when I said there was no story and that it was only research I was doing.” She pushed aside her plate and put her hands out in front of her on the table.  
“Yeah.” It had been some of obvious for at least a minute.  
“Well…” she inhaled sharply, wished she wasn’t here in this moment. “The demon you caught a glimpse of in that book, he’s…. well, he’s after me.”  
“After you? Why?” Dean raised the question before Sam could.  
“Dean!” It came from Sam and he sounded annoyed with his brother.  
“Oh come on, Sammy, you were thinking it too.” Dean protested.  
“Let her tell her story.” Sam glared at his brother for a moment then looked back at Church. “We’ll be quiet until you’re finished.”  
“He will.” Dean smirked again.  
Watching the brothers bicker and get a tad annoyed with each other, Church wanted to laugh, but she couldn’t. Her story was on the tip of her tongue, and she wondered how much of it she would let them know. Should she come clean with the whole thing or should she just give them the need-to-know bits?  
She chose her next words carefully.  
“This demon has been keeping tabs on me my whole life, just as he has done with members of my family going back for years. Last night he came to me in a dream, talked about how he was coming in a few days to get what he wanted from me,” her voice started to break but she held it together.  
“He’s destroyed a lot of my family and others too. Spilled a lot of blood in his quest, and now he’s come for me. I’ve tried to stop him, looked everywhere I could for a way to kill him, but there’s nothing… and time is about to run out for me.”  
Sam and Dean stared at her, both of them wondering what else she had to say and why this demon wanted her.  
She looked at them both, the vulnerability showing on her face. “Sam, Dean, I don’t know what else to do anymore. I can’t run anywhere. I can’t send him back to Hell once he gets here and I don’t want to die. I can’t let him take me.” Her eyes were already drowning in fear and now starting to well up with tears she was fighting.  
Sam reached out across the table and put his hand over one of hers. “It’s alright, Church. We’ll help you.”  
“Sammy’s right.” Dean looked at how his brother had placed his hand over the female hunter’s for comfort, or maybe something else. Kid’s got a crush... oh, Sammy...  
“Thanks, guys. I hope you can, because not even Bobby could help figure out a way for me to stop him.”  
“Wait a minute. You’re saying Bobby has come up with no way to get rid of this evil sonuvabitch?” Dean asked her, curious that with all the knowledge and contacts Bobby had, he had failed to come up with anything. And that included them.  
“That’s right. He’s looked everywhere he can think of, but…” she paused, “but every lead he had led to a dead end.” Church got quiet, noticed Sam’s hand was still on hers.  
“Church, we’ll find a way to help you, to end this. I promise.” Sam squeezed her hand, tried to keep his expression neutral even though the questions were firing off in his head a million a second.  
Sam knew that it must be bad if Bobby came up with nothing useful, but he felt he had to help her. Here she was, probably on the run from this demon for most of her life, while he and Dean had spent most of their lives chasing the demon that had destroyed their family. He understood, and was willing use whatever power he had in him to rid her of this fear and save her.  
“If Bobby can’t help you, what makes you think we can?” Dean posed the question to her.  
Sam looked at Dean, wanting to smack him again. His brother could be such an ass sometimes. It was obvious she had nowhere else to turn, and she probably knew about his powers, most hunters did by now.  
“I don’t.” Church removed her hand from under Sam’s, and looked at Dean. She felt a bit angered by the way he asked her the question. “But it can’t be a coincidence that I ran into Sam, and then on the same night the demon tells me he’s coming for me. I want to believe fate crossed all of paths for a reason.”  
“Dean, she’s right. I might be able to do something that nobody else can. Bobby can’t find a way to help her, but he never asked us, or me. I can ask Ruby about this demon and see what she knows. She’ll help us out if we need her to. And maybe I can use my abilities against him.”  
Dean groaned. “I don’t like it, Sam, but fine.” He looked Church straight in the eyes, “This demon got a name?”  
“Ronove,” she barely spoke the name loud enough for them to hear. A moment later added, “And he just happens to be Yellow Eyes’ brother.”  
“WHAT?” Sam was shocked.  
Dean coughed, surprised at the revelation. “Ronove… what the fuck is going on?” He hadn’t seen that one coming, or that he would have recognized the name from his time in Hell.  
“Did you…? Sam started to ask Dean.  
“Yeah, I met him down there. He paid me a visit as a little payback for killing his brother.” Dean’s eyes went cold, filling with pain he tried stuffing down as he remembered the meeting.  
Sam just looked at his brother, who was clearly trying to forget but unable to.  
Church couldn’t believe all the ways this was linked together. It was becoming clearer to her now that it was out in the open. If she ever had a chance to come out of this alive, it could possibly be down to Sam and Dean to help her now.  
“I’m sorry, Dean. If I had known… I never would have come to both of you with this.” Church truly was sorry, she had tried to imagine what Hell might be like, but Dean actually knew because he’d been there. That was no secret. She saw the way his eyes went empty when she said the demon’s name and as the flashbacks of his time there had most likely started to flood his mind. She saw the way Dean’s pain bled through, and the way Sam looked at him, helpless in this situation because there was nothing he could do to ease his brother’s anguish.  
“What does he want with you, Church? He’s one of the most twisted assholes down there, and meaner than Yellow Eyes ever was.” Dean didn’t even want to explain the ways he knew it to be true.  
Sam breathed hard and deep, he wanted to comfort Dean someway but he couldn’t. Dean would only shrug it off anyway and make fun of him later for trying to have a chick moment with him. His brother kept so much of it to himself, and it had to hurt.  
“What he wants…. he… he wants me… I could be…” she tried to say it but her words were jumbled.  
“Church, take your time. It’s all right.” Sam didn’t want to rush her. It was obvious she was having a hard time saying whatever it was she had to say.  
“He’s coming for me because I might be the key to…”  
A man suddenly appeared at their table.  
“Hello there, Church. Sam, Dean,” the man’s voice was friendly but cold.  
The three of them looked up into the stranger’s black eyes.  
_Demon,_ the word crossed their minds instantly, and their senses went on high alert.  
Dean reached for his gun, Church grabbed an iron knife in her pocket, and Sam held out his hand as he tried to concentrate on what he was about to do.  
“Now, now, behave, you silly hunters. I have to say you make quite the threesome sitting here out in the open.” The man laughed as he slipped into the booth beside Church. “How about we make this foursome and have ourselves a good chat about the weather?”


	4. Chapter 4

“How about we send your ass back to Hell or somewhere worse instead?” Dean wasn’t really asking, but he smiled slyly as he said the words.  
“Because, Dean, you’ll want to hear me out before you do that. Your kind always wants to pump us for information when you’ve got one of us.”  
The demon was right, they all knew it.  
“What do you want?” Sam asked, his hand still held out towards the demon, ready to at least keep him in line. He couldn’t exactly do much more in a diner full of witnesses without causing some sort of scene.  
The demon laughed. “I didn’t come here for you two, but now that I see you’re both here… let’s just say that’s the sweetest cherry on top. We’ll get three for the price of one.”  
Church remained calm. “You came for me, but you’re not him.”  
“Ronove sends his regards, but you’ll see him soon enough as it is. So tell me, Church, which brother is your saviour… because it’s always one or the other.”  
Sam’s shoulders tensed up.  
Church’s eyes went to Sam without hesitation, and then she realized her mistake.  
“My, my… so, it’s baby brother Sammy. Could have sworn you’d be a Dean kind of girl. Little too used up for you, huh? But hey, I get it… Sam’s the brooding, sensitive one, and has just enough demon blood within him to be more dangerous than his big bro. Women do love those bad boys.”  
Dean grunted out a laugh. “What can I say? Sometimes I let Sammy get the girl. But more dangerous? Ha. Who knew Hell had comedians? Sorry I somehow missed your show while I was down there, asshat.”  
“Aw, Dean, you must have too busy getting tortured or torturing someone else during my time slot.”  
“Listen, you sad son of a bitch, tell that scared boss of yours we’re waiting for him,” Dean almost hissed it out. “He’s not getting Church. I will take him out just like I did his sorry ass yellow-eyed brother Azazel.” A sweet smile formed on Dean’s lips.  
“I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to drag your bag of bones back once he’s done with her. And Church is his, you boys better ask her to tell you the whole story, because like the deal you made to save little Sammy, well, Dean, there’s no way for her to get out of it. No spells, no Sam and his special powers, and no angels are going to save her. Not when she has and is what he needs…” The demon stopped, smiled crookedly. “Did I say too much?”  
“Lies, that’s all you demons are full of. There’s a way out.” Church was angry instead of afraid now. “Any deal can be broken.”  
“Now who’s lying?” The demon was smug. “A few more days, Church… and the Winchesters can’t save you.”  
With that the demon was gone, and the stranger’s eye’s turned back to normal. He looked around nervously and confused. “Wha-what am I doing here? How did I get here?”  
“You… you felt faint, nearly passed out while on your way to the bathroom,” Sam quickly lied.  
“Lucky you sat down so quickly. Are you feeling better?” Church asked.  
“I… I… I think so.” The man got up and walked away dazed and confused, and in a bit of a hurry.  
The three of them looked at each other, each had questions and thoughts racing through their minds over what had just happened.  
“What did that cheap pay grade demon mean by that you have and are what he needs?” Dean asked, giving her a hard look.  
“I…it meant… I am…” Church was failing at getting out the words.  
“You what?” Dean pushed.  
“Dean, give her a minute.” Sam just watched Church, seeing she was unable to get out the words. He wished she would tell them so then maybe they could start figuring out a way to help, but even if it took her all night, he was willing to wait. He felt for her when her unease was now showing.  
Church looked at Dean, her voice frozen in her throat. He was going to make her say the words and she wasn’t sure she could now. She had been just about to before the demon had shown up, but now she wondered if it even mattered. This was her problem, always had been. In a few days it would evolve into an atrociously toe-curling nightmare, one she still didn’t feel right about getting them into just because they might be able to help her. It was a long-shot anyway.  
It was on her mind to tell them to forget it, the demon was probably right, they couldn’t save her. And then she looked at Sam.  
She saw an understanding in him, one that she knew he had over being chased and haunted by a demon that wanted you under its thumb, to do its bidding. Knowing the stories she’d heard about him, Sam had been in a different situation, unaware for most of his life about it, but he’d been there.  
Church saw it in his eyes, the way he wanted to save her or would try to save her. This man she barely knew was ready to stick his life on the line to save hers from this evil, the same type of evil he was apparently fighting against becoming. The tale of what Sam Winchester could possibly become one day was well known by nearly every other hunter at this point. Church knew she had to tell them then, because if anyone would understand, it would be Sam. Maybe even Dean would too.  
“Sam, if we want to have a hope in hell of helping her, she has to spit it out.” Dean was straightforward, and right.  
“I know, Dean.” Sam hated the way Dean could be so right even when he was being insensitive.  
“Ronove wants me because he thinks I’m an important key to help bring Hell up here, but also to unleash something down there,” Church said absently, trying to detach the emotion from her voice and the words.  
Dean whistled lowly. “Goddamn it. One of the seals to break, probably.” That was all he could say.  
Sam felt the hairs on his body stand up on end because he knew exactly how she must be feeling. He was supposed to have been the first in line for whatever Azazel had planned, before Dean had killed him that was. He was ready to help fight to get her out of this when he knew what it was like to feel evil luring, pulling, calling you to its side.  
“How would you help Ronove do either?” Sam curiously eyed her as he asked.  
This was the moment Church dreaded almost as much as what was waiting for her once Ronove got his hands on her for once and for all - speaking the words out loud. She’d only done this a few times before, once to Bobby, another to a close hunter friend, and once to someone else she’d loved deeply and had lost because of the demon.  
“I…” she paused, the next words searing her mind as she thought them, stinging her throat before she said them. “I’m the sacrifice he needs. My soul is one he’s owed.”  
Sam and Dean were staring at Church with a bit of disbelief and wonder.  
“If this is something as simple you’re some sort of virgin sacrifice he needs, one of us can go back across the street with you and solve that issue today,” Dean joked with a slight chuckle and a charming smile.  
Sam gave his brother a look that said he was unbelievable, and shook his head, but the trace of a small laugh and a tiny smile were noticeable on his face.  
Church couldn’t help but to laugh at how ridiculous Dean was, but appreciated the way he tried to joke about it. “Yeah, um, no. That ship has long sailed. If only it were that simple.”  
“An owed sacrifice?” Sam was thinking out loud, putting the pieces together in his mind. “I’m guessing a deal was made somewhere along the line?”  
Church nodded. “I’d rather not tell the story here, though, so how about we head back across the street. Meet me at my room in ten minutes?”  
“Yeah, okay. We’ll be there,” Sam agreed.  
“Sammy’s invited back to a girl’s room. How long has it been since the last time?” Dean teased. He could see the looks going on between his brother and the female hunter – the attraction was mutual.  
Sam just shrugged, and wished Dean would just lay off him already.  
Church left some money on the table, and saw the odd look on Sam. “Guess today’s his lucky day then.”  
Dean chuckled. “Hear that, Sam, you’re getting lucky. You might even get to cry afterwards.”  
“Sure thing, Dean.” Sam’s tone did not sound impressed. “At least I’ll remember her name five minutes later,” he snapped back, his hard look telling Dean to stop.  
Church laughed, their brotherly banter was a welcomed distraction from the matter at hand.  
“Hey, I remember their names… well, most of the time.” Dean just smirked and shrugged nonchalantly.  
“As much as I’d like to stick around and hear the rest of this, I’m going to go back to my room now. See both of you in about ten minutes.”  
“Okay,” they both replied.  
Church gave them both a little nod as she left.  
The brothers smiled back as they watched her leave. Both of them knew things were just about to get real interesting for everyone involved.  
“We’ve got to help her, Dean.” Sam looked at his brother, his eyes were pleading.  
“I’m not sure we can, Sammy,” Dean paused, he wanted to tell his brother the story of meeting Ronove, but he couldn’t and he wouldn’t. “I’m just not sure we can help her out of whatever this turns out to be.” 

[ - ]

Back in her room, Church paced the small quarters as she pondered over the best way to tell them the full story. The whole story she had been told as a child, and then later again when she’d been old enough to understand it wasn’t just a fable or had been told just to scare her. It was the reason she’d become a hunter, because to most of her family, that was the only way to survive.  
Coming to a stop and reaching into her bag, Church pulled out a small book. It was old, most of the pages turning shades of yellow now. She opened it and scanned the names, the dates, the locations, the descriptions, and summaries.  
It still pained her to read it, the fates of all the names, but the thing that stung the most was reading her own name  
Closing the book and letting it rest in her fingers for a moment, she knew it only held the past, and the present. There was no future written for her in this book.  
Church then placed the book back inside the bag knowing that whatever the outcome of the next few days were, it all ended with her. Her name was at the end of the list, hers was the only one left, and it finished off the long line of all those before her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea behind how Church helps has slightly changed upon a quick edit. Originally it was just help bring hell on earth. I think O've come up with bit of a better idea now. But we'll see. There are still some chapters to edit again and they will be coming soon.  
> Trying to finish off 3 stories at once is quite a challenge so many years after they were started.  
> Hope if you're reading, you're enjoying it.


	5. Chapter 5

Sam knocked on the door to Church’s room a little over ten minutes later.   
She opened it instantly and let Sam and Dean inside. “Come on in, guys.”   
Dean took a seat on the edge of the bed while Sam sat at the table.   
“So, are you ready to tell your story yet?” Dean asked, looking at her curiously.   
“Uh-huh… but before I start, can I ask that you wait until I’m finished before asking any questions, because it’s only going to get harder to get through it if you keep interrupting me.”   
Sam and Dean looked at each, nodded in agreement.   
Sam looked back at Church then. “Yeah, we can do that. Dean will be quiet this time. So you can start.”   
Church stood in front of the window, looked outside of it, and took a deep breath. “It all started many years ago, goes back twelve generations before mine, which makes me part of the thirteenth one if you can’t do that math.”   
Sam smiled to himself knowing the math comment was probably for Dean’s sake.   
Dean nodded, uttered “hmmm” as he’d been spared trying to work it out in his head.   
“It began with the parents of the twelfth generation. There were thirteen families, all part of a small community in some remote area. Each made a deal with a stranger who came to their town one day. All of their reasons were different. Some were hungry, most were poor, some wanted to prosper in their trades, but their reasons don’t really matter in the end.”   
Church rested her head against the window, wrapped her arms around herself, pausing for a moment.   
“This stranger didn’t tell anyone his name, or even give a reason for why he was there. But for two nights he sat in the local, well I guess it would have been a watering hole, probably listening in on conversations and then inquiring further about the troubles of a few of them.”   
Sam and Dean remained silent, each listening intently to Church’s story for the details.   
“On the third night, he approached thirteen of the men whose tales of woe he’d listened to. He offered them the solution to their problems, claimed he could give them whatever they wanted if they would just give him a small offering in return. Now, most of the men didn’t give it a second thought, greed or hunger was in their hearts at the time. A few were even foolish enough to not listen to the offer before agreeing to give him whatever it was he wanted.”   
Church turned around finally, and leaned against the wall beside the window. She couldn’t sit as she told the story, she had to be near a window or a door in case she needed to run and breathe, to break free of the suffocating weight this story held on her. She’d known it for years, but it still was hard to bear when she talked about it because she didn’t like to talk about it at all.  
“Some of them thought it was a joke. No mere man could just grant their heart’s desires, so they accepted. The rest agreed to it anyway, even after hearing what he wanted in return. They thought it didn’t matter too much in the end. If what he wanted was what it took, then they were willing to give it up. Some of them didn’t even think they’d be able to give him what he wanted, because they had no children. What was the soul of a child they didn’t and probably would never have? And if they had no children, then those children would never have their own children and so on and so on. Chances were he’d never be able to get the total of thirteen souls he wanted from each of their families. It sounded like a fair trade to the ones who couldn’t put up their end of the bargain.”   
Sam and Dean traded interested looks. Each already had questions, but they had agreed to stay quiet until she was done.  
Her voice went hollow now. “As long as they promised these future thirteen souls, their hopes or dreams would be granted. Each man took it when they felt they had no other option. Some of them were already grasping at straws to better their situations, while others were obsessed with obtaining their desires. It didn’t matter, because at the point they just signed over whatever the price was because they wanted what they wanted and they’d just been made that offer of a lifetime.”  
Sam was captivated. He could almost see the story playing out in his mind as she told it.   
Dean was still as he listened, his hate for Ronove growing.   
“Later some said that as soon as they’d agreed, the stranger’s eyes went red for a moment, but at the time they were blinded by the promises to really notice. That maybe if they’d known the true cost they would have walked away, but it took awhile for any of them to figure out the mistake they’d all made.” Church gritted her teeth, walked over to the mini fridge and helped herself to a bottle of water before she continued on with the story.   
“Soon each of them had what they had wanted, whatever it was each of them sold thirteen future souls from their family’s line for. The ones that already had children watched them grow older, while the ones that didn’t were surprised to find themselves with children within a few years after the night they made their deals. Years started to pass, nothing really happened and all of them slowly began to forget about the night they struck a deal with a stranger. None of gave it any thought until the day came when the first soul was collected a good thirteen years later.”   
Sam just watched her, seeing how she detached and yet still pained.  
Dean cleared his throat, folded his arms, his face twitching just a little.   
“It only took a month before the other men each lost a child of their own after that first one. Each of them finally started to realize just what it was they had signed over to this stranger – an actual life, not just a soul. That was when they all decided to get together, they’d all seen each other that night talking with the man, and finally willing to discuss what all of them had done separately that night. They traded their stories, talked about their losses, and decided they would find a way to break their agreements with this man except none of them knew his name or where to find him. He never returned after that and nobody had ever learned his name. So they prayed for a way to find him, to break their deals, for any sort of help at all.”  
Church looked at Sam and Dean, noticed their expressions were both a little hard. She paced back to the window, stared outside again.   
“Somewhere along the line one of them must have talked to a priest about what they’d done and found out they’d made their deals with a demon. They decided to hunt it if they could. A few even got their hands on summoning spells to try and call the demon back, but didn’t quite know what they were doing. A few got themselves killed. The rest kept at it though, summoning demon after demon, trying to learn the name of the one that had visited them all those years ago. Then they started to die off one by one. One horrible death after another that no one could explain. It wasn’t long before there were only two of them left. These two gave up their quest, finally told their families and the other men’s families everything. They wrote down everything they knew in a book so that in the event of their deaths, natural or not, it would be there to fall back upon. A way to keep track of what had happened, what was going to happen, so maybe someone would be able to stop it down the line.”  
Church walked over to her bag, pulled out the book, holding it in her hands before she started to speak again.  
“Now, none of the families wanted to believe it. But when the men’s surviving children had children of their own, and when a child from each family died in some terrible way, they started to believe in it. They started their own quests to end this, some becoming hunters. And each generation started to record the events and then pass down the story and the book to the next.”  
She handed it to Sam, wanting him to look at it first.  
“Is that it?” Dean got up and joined Sam at the table so they could start looking through it together.   
“It’s all there, everything that happened to each family and every generation before mine. You’ll see that a lot of the people whose souls were collected said they had been haunted by a man in their dreams. He’s described as looking like a normal man, but his eyes are red. They also claim they’d run into him numerous times before they died.”   
Sam was ready to open the book, but he was waiting for her to finish telling her story.   
“Both of you take your time to read through it. Maybe you’ll see a pattern I don’t, think of something I can’t. Maybe something will click in your heads. I’ve read it enough times to know it word for word and can’t find anything useful in it, but maybe you will.”   
“Okay, we’ll give it a shot,” Sam replied, giving her a thoughtful look.   
Dean nodded. “We might be able to figure something out. One of us has been to Hell...”   
“I only have the book now because I’m the last one left. You’ll see my name at the end of the list. Nobody else is left from my generation. I’ll be the last sacrifice he’ll get, the last soul to collect from the thirteenth generation out of thirteen families. And once he gets me, he has enough sacrificed souls to…” her voice started to break as she spoke those last words. “To unleash something people like us have never seen. I can’t say why, it’s in the book…someone figured it out. Someone figured out what Ronove was up to... why all of us, and what I have to die for.”  
A few tears started to roll down her cheeks now. “Please, just read it and then let me know.” Church hurried to the door and flung it open, no longer able to hold back the emotions and devastation she felt was now coming undone, even though she had kept it together until the end in front of both brothers.   
“Wait, Church,” Sam called after her as he watched her run out the door and it shut behind her.   
“Dude, I know you want to run after her right now. I can see it on your face, but just give her a few minutes.” Dean knew she’d need a moment alone, even if Sam could comfort her with his sensitive side, it was clear she just needed a moment to collect herself.  
“Um… yeah, you’re right,” Sam said, opening the book. “That was some story, Dean. What do you think?”   
Dean looked at Sam, his face grim. “Sounds like Yellow Eyes wasn’t the only one with a plan. And as I said, I’m not sure we can help her. Thirteen generations, and no one has figured it out?”   
Sam shrugged. “We have to try. Let’s read this first, see if there’s anything in it we can use. Or maybe we know something they don’t.”   
“How about you read it then give me the short version when you’re done? I’ll give Bobby a call in the meantime and see what his take is on it.”   
“Sure.” Sam bit his tongue as Dean once again stuck him with the reading, even though he wanted to head outside, find Church and offer some comfort now. To tell her that somehow he’d do whatever it would take to keep her alive.   
Dean walked out, heading back to their room, already calling Bobby.   
Sam got comfortable in the chair and started to read about the past Church had described and began searching for a thread of something or anything that would help her out of ending up like the rest of the names in the book had.

[ - ]

Church watched Dean leave her room, the phone at his ear as he headed back to the room he and Sam had through her misty eyes. She was pretty sure he hadn’t noticed her as he walked the short distance between their rooms. She had silenced her cries and tried to blend in against the wall. It seemed to have worked too because Dean’s eyes had not even met hers.   
She couldn’t believe she’d just told them the whole story and let them have the book. The terrible book that promised her a fate she didn’t want, a fate she didn’t deserve, one she had never asked for even. Yet she was here, days away from it being fulfilled now.   
Church knew her days were numbered. Nobody before her had escaped the same fate.  
The emotions took hold of her again. With her eyes already red from before and now brimming with more tears once again, she sank to the ground and cried for the all of the lives lost before her, and most of all for her own, which was hanging by a dangerously thin thread.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure I am still thrilled with how I wrote Church's story, or that it truthfully makes sense in the end. Sounds a little like it was a reach for a plot. (Working on that idea again now.)  
> It could have probably used a bit more description and input from Sam and Dean. But it is what it is.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam had been reading the book Church had handed over for about an hour now. He was fascinated by the whole story and all the details that had been kept by each generation. He was trying to read through it as quickly as he could, but it was going to take more time. And time was a precious thing they might not really have as there was no telling when this demon would come for Church. It would be soon, that was all that seemed apparent.  
Sam stopped reading, rubbed his eyes, starting to think about the story he’d heard and now what he’d been reading.   
He was lost in thought when the knob turned and Church walked back in through the door.  
Looking up towards the door once it closed, Sam noticed that she had the telltale sign of slightly red rimmed eye look from crying and her cheeks were a little splotchy from wiping away at tears.   
“Church…” he began to say.  
“Sorry about running out before on you guys, Sam.” She cut him off, walked over to the bed, sat down, and looked over at him.   
Sam couldn’t believe that after everything, she was apologizing for running out after her revelation. “Don’t be sorry, there’s nothing to be sorry for. I probably would have taken off for a few minutes too.”   
“It’s just that this legacy, it-it gets harder to bear each year. It’s worse now that I know I’m the last one.” Church looked past Sam and to the book on the table before him. “Have you found anything in there?”   
“Yeah, um… I haven’t had a chance to really read through it all yet.” He didn’t want to bring her false hope, but if it gave her even the slightest bit of will to continue to fight then maybe he should. “There’s a few things I want to look further into, and I want to finish reading it before I say whether any of it might be useful to us or not.”   
Church didn’t reply, just nodded her head, and then started to bite on one of her nails.   
Sam wasn’t sure what he should do, but he knew he had to comfort her this time as she appeared a little defeated. There were plenty of questions he wanted to ask her, but now wasn’t the time. She obviously needed someone to be there for her right now. He got up, walked over to the bed, and sat down beside her.   
“Sam, if you can’t help me then by all means just say it.” Church tried to be strong as she said the words. She didn’t want to break down again, it would solve nothing.  
Sam was caught off guard, she was stronger than she wanted to believe, and he could see it. “I… look, I don’t know if we can or we can’t yet.” He put a hand on her knee as a small gesture of reassurance. “But whatever it takes, we’ll try to find a way to get you out of this, Church. There has to be something we can do that will help you.”  
She looked at him, her eyes getting just a tad misty. “Thank you, Sam. ”   
“Hey, don’t mention it. It’s what we do. It’s what you do too.” He gave her a small smile, hoping it would cheer her up.   
But that’s when she folded, burying her face in his chest, and softly began to sob again since she was unable to keep back the tears any longer. “I-I… I don’t want to go to Hell, Sam,” her words came out through her tears and sniffling, strained and full of pain. “Don’t want to have to die because Ronove made someone promise souls that weren’t theirs to promise.”   
Sam wrapped his arms around her tightly. He felt oddly connected to her right then as he knew what she was feeling. He’d watched his brother go through something so similar to this before, and he had sort of gone through it himself as well. “I won’t let you, we won’t let you.”   
Church cried just a little harder at his words. She knew they both saved people they barely knew most days, but this just felt different to her for some reason. “Sam…” she could barely speak through her sobbing.   
Sam sat there holding her as she cried, wishing there was something more he could do for her, but there wasn’t. All he could was hold on to her while she suffered through this, and then figure out a way to save not only her life, but her soul.   
Church’s crying quieted down, but didn’t come to a complete stop. She peered up at Sam from inside his arms. “Sorry,” she whispered.   
He looked down at her. This close he now noticed her eyes were a deep brown flecked with yellow that stood out in contrast. Her eyes held his attention for a moment longer then he should have let them right then. “It’s okay.” He loosened his arms around her, and was then surprised to find she only clung to him a little tighter as he did it.   
“Please don’t let go yet, not yet. I… I feel safe here, with you, and I haven’t felt that in awhile,” she confessed. She had just seen how he looked at her. Interest had crossed his gaze for a brief second and then had disappeared.  
“Sure, yeah, okay.” Sam tightened his arms around her again. It did surprise him a bit that she’d said she felt safe with him, but he didn’t care too much right then, he kind of liked having her in his arms. He’d been trying to hide and bury his attraction to her in spite of the situation, but it was getting difficult to keep ignoring it. It now seemed like in this moment that she had also been doing the same towards him.  
They sat like that for a few minutes with nothing but silence between them as they both tried to think of what to say.  
“Thanks,” it came out quiet, clear.   
“You’re welcome.”   
“I mean it, Sam, you’ve been nothing but kind to me. The offer to help me out of this mess and now letting me cry on your shoulder. Thanks.” Church moved slightly and gave Sam a light kiss on the cheek.   
Smiling at her, he found it almost impossible to resist leaning in for another kiss at that moment. As much as he wanted to, he knew he shouldn’t, so he held back the urge.   
Church saw it in his eyes, how Sam wanted to kiss her but wasn’t sure he should. She thought he probably figured it might mean he was taking advantage of the situation, but he wouldn’t be.   
And truth be told, she wanted to kiss him. She’d felt drawn to him from the moment they’d met at the diner and now here they were, close and alone. The timing was perfect even if it was all wrong to be thinking of doing anything of the sort with Sam when she had more important things to worry about. Ronove wasn’t about to let her go.  
But the way she saw it this was probably her last chance to really feel something, to feel something for someone else, with someone else. She leaned in and kissed him softly, then harder, needing him, pulling him to her.   
Sam returned her kisses with the same amount of lust. He had been unsure if it was wise, but since she had made the first move, he went with it. He pulled her onto him so she straddled him, his arms tightening around her again, pulling her as close as possible to him.  
Her fingers knotted in his hair as she tried to lose herself in the moment, in his kisses, and with him. She felt incredibly safe and sound with Sam, as if even for only a little while, it was as if nothing was waiting to snatch away the life she had left while she was with him.  
As their passion and need increased, got more intense, both of them struggling to hold on to a bit of control, the door swung open from somewhere behind them.  
Dean walked in, and then whistled lowly as he saw what was happening. “Getting the girl already. Atta boy, Sammy.” He smiled to himself. He coughed, watched both of them realize he was there by tensing up and freezing where they were to look at him. Then he said what he had come back in to tell them, “As much as I hate to interrupt your PG-13 moment since Sam could really use it, and I’m sure you could too…” he paused, smirking at Church knowingly. “Well, Bobby and I… okay, Bobby actually, thinks he’s found a way to save you, Church.” Dean grinned wider at them as they pulled apart from each other and tried to focus on his news instead of their embarrassment at being caught in a moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was a tad cheesy and a little fluffy most likely. And a little short as well. You could probably figure out there was a moment to be had.  
> Is it terrible?   
> I'm cringing at it even though it got some editing in the move over to this site.  
> The next one needs work (as per the original it has one ridiculous idea on how to save Church, quite lame, honestly!) but it will be up sooner or later. Posting this one as I get a little stuck on the other unfinished stories.   
> Anyone have any input?


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Newly edited from my original 2009 version, but pretty much still the same overall. Stuck with what I still feel is probably a most ridiculous idea, because why not? So please let me know if it's completely awful or such a stretch... because this story was never finished and anything can go as I attempt to do that so many years later.  
> Hope you're liking it.

Dean gave Sam a nod and a sly smirk.  
Sam frowned, knowing what his brother was thinking. “Bobby thinks he found a way to save her?”  
“You looked well on your way to saving Church yourself, Sammy. But Bobby’s idea might actually save her life. Now it might work, it might not. You know what a crapshoot these things can be.”  
Church looked at Dean, then Sam, then Dean again. “So what is this plan?” she asked.  
“Well, uh…” Dean chuckled nervously. “That’s the complicated part. We’ve got to wait until Ronove comes for you. Bobby says once that happens, there’s another ritual and a spell besides the usual traps we can use to help weaken him enough to kill him or force him to let you keep your soul. It’s something he found in a book he just finished translating.”  
“A ritual and a spell? That doesn’t make sense, I’ve never heard of anything of the sort that would weaken a demon without exorcising it.” Sam’s mind was kicking into all his knowledge, searching for something that sounded even remotely familiar to this.  
Dean shrugged. “Hey, don’t ask me, this is Bobby’s idea.”  
“So we use a spell to weaken him, and then what? Kill him with what?” Church asked Dean.  
“Yeah, Bobby said something about that...” Dean chuckled a little awkwardly.  
“What is it, Dean?” Sam wanted to know, needed to. If the knife wouldn’t work, they still didn’t have the Colt back, and his own powers might or might not able to help.  
“This book mentions something about a weapon. Something we need to track down, Bobby’s digging into that now.”  
“A weapon? So something like the Colt and the knife?” Sam’s brain was in rapid fire, searching for something that might be similar.  
“Something like that, it’s a… no… damn it. I’m not sure what he said. He muttered it in Latin at me.” Dean pondered it but couldn’t come up with anything.  
Sam’s expression said that was typical. Dean’s Latin had never been the greatest. “Guess I should call Bobby then, see what this plan of his and this weapon is, or if there’s something we should be doing in the meantime.” Sam looked at Church, “Unless you’re going to call him?”  
Church shook her head. “You can, I’m sure you will at least know what he’s talking about. And I’m not going to get my hopes up right away when it’s the eleventh hour attempt, I know that. But you can fill me in on the details of it later,” she half smiled as she said it, letting Sam know that while she did want to hear the plan, she did want to be alone with him again.  
“Sure,” Sam agreed, able to read her look.  
“Go call Bobby, Sam. I’ll stay with her for now just in case.”  
“Yeah, I better.” Sam put his hands over Church’s, looked her in the eyes. “I’ll talk to Bobby and we’ll get this figured out. See if there’s a good chance this will work.” He gave her hands a light squeeze, smiled hopefully at her before he got up, grabbed the book and left the room.  
Church watched as Sam left her room. The news of what could end up being a viable way to end this nightmare stuck with her. She didn’t know if she could be saved, but it sure looked like Bobby and the Winchesters were going to try damn hard to help, if no actually save her.  
“Looks like we’re alone, Chuch.” Dean sat down beside her, his eyes cocked in curious gaze.  
“So it appears.”  
“Can I ask you something?”  
Church just kind of looked at him funny. “Would it stop you from asking it if I said you can’t?”  
Dean laughed. “No.”  
“You might as well ask it then.”  
“Do you really think Sam is more dangerous than me?” Dean broke the ice by asking a ridiculous question he already knew the answer to. There was no way Sammy was ever seen as being more dangerous than he was, not even when his brother was sending demons back to Hell with nothing more than his hands and a dark power from within.  
Church laughed. It was hard for her not to at how Dean had just changed the atmosphere with an absurd question. “I’d say you’re both dangerous on your own levels.”  
“I know he’s brooding and sensitive, but being more dangerous and more of a bad boy? I can take him, and he always getting his ass kicked by chicks. That kid’s always been on the geeky side, so there’s no way in hell he’s seen as a bad boy. Not like me.” He gave her a cocky smile.  
As much as there was an undeniable attraction between Church and Sam, Dean’s charm was certainly hard to ignore. Matched with his good looks, the combination would be pretty much lethal to most women, but Church had heard all about the older Winchester brother and his ways from around. And while maybe in some other time, some other place she’d have found him hard to refuse, the demon in the diner had been right – it was Sam for her.  
She laughed again. “I guess I’ll just have to take your word for it then.” She smiled at him, not at all believing he needed the confidence boost, but half providing him with it anyway.  
“So… I think it might be best if you let Sam stay here with you tonight,” he paused, “just in case Ronove comes for you. One of us should keep watch, and as much as I’d be willing to do it, from what I could see, I think you’d prefer my brother.” Dean held back a chuckle and another smirk.  
“Um, yeah.” Church held back her own laughter. “That’s probably a good idea.”  
Silence filled the room for a few minutes, neither of them sure what to say to each other.  
Dean drummed a few fingers on his knee. “That was quite the story you told.”  
“Uh-huh.”  
“So Ronove, he’s…” Dean let out a hard sigh. “A real piece of work. I’ve seen what he does.”  
“I’ve seen it too. Maybe not the same way you did, but I’ve seen what damage he’s done, and I’m sorry, Dean,” Church quietly said.  
“That sonuvabitch is gonna be sorry. Sam and I will stop him, with Bobby’s help, and yours of course. He’ll be joining his brother, so there’s no way he’s going to get what he wants. We’ll save you from that bastard, that’s the job.”  
“Thank you.” Church smiled at him lightly.  
“Don’t mention it, Church, well, actually…” A small cute smile formed on his face.  
Church chuckled. “You know, Dean, if you get me out of this alive I’ve got a friend I think you should meet. You remind me of her a bit, and I have a feeling you’d like her. Maybe even get along a little too well actually.”  
Cocking his head, Dean’s eyes lit up a bit. “Her? Now that’d be some thanks.”  
“Oh, we’ll see.” Church stifled a giggle as she thought of letting Dean meet what could be possibly be his match.  
“Well, maybe you should call this friend now. Get it out of the way. Looks like I’m going to be lonely tonight.” Dean faked a pout for a second.  
“Can’t. She went on a vacation during this supernatural hunter hiatus, said something about needing some time with sun, sand, a string bikini, strong drinks, and sex with handsome men.”  
“Oh, so she’s a hunter too?” His face held a look of intrigue. “Sounds like a good way to spend it… if I happened to be one of those handsome men. Sure sounds like she knows how to have fun.”  
Chuch nodded. “Yeah, and she does, which is why I think you’d find she’s right up your alley.”  
“Uh-huh… what do you mean? You’re kinda pimping your friend out to me without asking her.”  
“Oh no, see, she likes good-looking bad boys, which makes you her type so she won’t mind. But her wit might surpass yours. She’s pretty and knows it, smart too, strong, and one hell of a hunter. I’m almost willing to bet my life on it that she’s your type. No pun intended.”  
“Huh? Can’t say I’m not a little bit interested in meeting her after hearing that.” Dean raised his eyebrows, nodded his head. “All the more reason to get you out of this alive then.” He smiled.  
“Do you think you can? I mean, you’ve met Ronove, you know what we’re dealing with.” Church wanted his honest opinion. From everything she had heard about Dean, she knew that he’d be straight with her.  
He rubbed a hand over his face for a moment. “Well… uh… maybe. We’ll try. That’s the best I can give you.” A rueful short smile crossed his lips after he said the words.  
“Okay.... I mean, I know that there might not be anything to stop this. That I’m at the end, nothing left but to…” She went quiet, letting it sink in.  
“Yeah…” Dean was silent for a moment, looked behind him. “So, Church, got any quarters? I can’t resist the Magic Fingers if I’m going to be here for awhile.”  
Church smiled, laughed, and was thankful that Dean knew how to lighten the mood. She made a note to try calling the friend she mentioned later. They would definitely have some fun together in her opinion.  
She got up, went into her bag, handed him a small coin purse. “Knock yourself out.”  
He gave her a nod, eyes raised, a devilish grin on his face. “Sweet. Thanks, Church.”  
“Welcome.” Church watched him stretch out on her bed, put a few quarters into the slot beside it and grin like a child in a candy store as the bed started to vibrate. Then she sat at the table, opened up a laptop and started to do some research as she waited for Sam to come back.

[ - ]

A half hour and all of her quarters later, Dean was half asleep on her bed while Church was reading at the table when Sam returned came back into her room.  
“Bobby’s plan might actually work,” he said as he sat down across from Church and smiled.  
Church just looked at Sam, not sure if she should ask or wait for him to explain.  
“No shit,” Dean mumbled.  
“Dude, you just had to use her bed, didn’t you?” Sam asked Dean as a way of acknowledging that his brother was still there.  
Sitting up, Dean just sort of smirked at his brother. “There was nothing else to do, and Church didn’t mind. She actually gave me the quarters – this one’s some girl, Sammy. You better save her.”  
“Tell me you didn’t?” Sam gave a small chuckle and an exaggerated look of disbelief as he asked Church.  
“No harm, plus it shut him up.” She grinned back at him.  
Sam just laughed. “It usually does.”  
“Hey, I heard that,” Dean whined with slight irritation.  
“So, Sam, you think it might actually work, that I might actually have a chance?” Even though Church didn’t know all the details, she felt hopeful now that Sam seemed to agree with whatever Bobby had cooked up as a plan.  
“Bobby filled me in on everything. He also seems to think we might be able to do this without the weapon. He’d like us to have the weapon just to be on the safe side, but if he can’t find it by tomorrow morning at least, we might have to do this without it.”  
She tipped her head with a knowing look. “Do you think we’ll stand a chance without it? What is it anyway?”  
“We might, and uh, it’s a crossbow and arrows.”  
“That was it, a crossbow.” Dean stood up now and paced a little.  
“What’s so special about this crossbow?” Church wondered how a crossbow was supposed to help kill a demon, it just didn’t sound like it would that much.  
“I know it doesn’t sound like a deadly weapon against a demon, but it’s not actually the crossbow we need. It’s the arrows. Apparently they’re carved from the most famous cross in history. The text says that if you get a powerful demon weak enough with the spell first and then shoot them with one of these arrows, it’s not the wood itself but the blood the wood was stained with is what actually does them in.”  
“And unicorn spit heals all wounds, Harry Potter,” quipped Dean sarcastically.  
Church chuckled a little too loudly then. Dean sort of had a point. It sounded a bit ridiculous to her too.  
“Um yeah, that was phoenix tears, genius,” Sam corrected him.  
“Of course you would know that,” Dean snorted, rolled eyes. “You thought I didn’t notice you were reading those books and watching those movies late at night while I was asleep?”  
Church laughed again at them. “Boys, as much as I find your knowledge of that boy wizard fascinating, can we get back to this weapon? Like does Bobby have any idea where we might find it?”  
"Hey, you were watching the movies too." Sam scowled at Dean and then looked back at Church. “Yeah, right, he’s looking into that. He hasn’t even heard of the thing before, but might know of someone who has. Said he’d make a few calls and call us back if there’s anything.”  
“All right then I guess I pray Bobby can track this thing down and wait for his call in the meantime,” Church sighed. She wanted him to track down the crossbow and the arrows and call back, but she wasn’t going to hold her breath. She wondered what good it would do if they found it within the day anyway. It wasn’t like it would be delivered that quickly or that she’d be lucky enough that it’d be nearby should Ronove arrive within the next day or two.  
“While we wait for Bobby to call back, I’m going to read the rest of your book, see if there’s anything you might of overlooked and get a better understanding of all of it,” Sam said.  
“Sure, take your time.” Church nodded.  
“Okay, well I’m hungry. So, time to hit a place with some pie. Hungry too, Sam?” Dean gave Sam a ‘we need to talk’ look and nodded slightly towards the door.  
Sam understood the look Dean gave him and returned it. “Yeah, um, sure, Dean.”  
Dean walked over to the door, opened it, and then turned around and looked at Church. “Thanks for letting me use your bed, Church.” He grinned at her. “That was just what I needed.”  
Sam stifled a laugh and got up from the table, walked towards the door, and stopped behind Dean who had one foot out the door already.  
“Sure thing, Dean.” Church tried not to laugh as she smiled lightly at him.  
“Let’s go,” said Dean.  
“Wait a second,” Sam uttered and looked at Church. “Church, did you want to come with us?”  
Dean muttered “great,” under his breath light enough for Sam to hear it, but Church didn’t catch it.  
“Nah, there’s something I’ve got to do, but thanks for asking, Sam.” She smiled.  
Dean walked out completely, headed to the Impala.  
“Oh, okay. Call us if something happens.”  
“I will, and same. Call me if you hear back from Bobby.”  
“Sure. So I’ll, uh, see you later then?” Sam sort of smiled.  
“Definitely, and if you want to ditch Dean before you do, that’d be great.” She laughed and gave him a slightly suggestive grin.  
“All right.” Sam laughed. “Later then… oh, and, Church,” he paused, “be careful.” He hid the concern on his face, but not quite from his eyes. “I’d feel better if you came with us, but you obviously know how to look after yourself, but be careful okay?”  
“I will, and I’ll be fine. See you back here later. Bye, Sam.” Church could tell he wanted to stay, or at least keep her close by in the event that something happened. He truly wasn’t going to let her face this alone. She was touched by that and thankful for it.  
Sam gave her a smile and a nod, then walked and shut the door behind him.  
As soon as Sam closed the door, Church got out of the chair, went to the window and carefully peeked out of a corner from behind the curtain. She watched the Impala drive out of the lot and down the road before she went over to her bag, dug around until she found what was carefully hidden in her belongings and what she was looking for.  
In her hands she held what appeared to be a compact mirror. Church opened it up and pulled out a chain with a key on it.  
Church hurried out and locked up her room to start on the twenty minute walk to the garage where she’d left her car. Her red 1970 Pontiac GTO had started making a funny noise she’d never heard before, and it started happening just before she’d made it to this town. So, she’d taken it to a local mechanic instead of calling Bobby to come out and tow it. Luckily for her, the problem was somewhat minor but it was going to take at least a day before he could fix it. That was what she had called Bobby for in the end though, just to make sure that the guy wasn’t going to charge her an arm and a leg and rip her off for the work. He had offered to drive out and fix the car for her, but she turned him down as it wouldn’t be worth the journey if she could get it fixed here.  
When Church got to the garage, she chatted awhile with the mechanic before paying her bill and thanking him because he had even polished the car free of charge, telling her a car like that should shine seeing as it was pretty much in mint condition still.  
Glad to have her car back, Church got behind the wheel and fired up the engine. Her car purred like the cat she’d always thought of it as, the weird rattle sound and bit of vibration was now gone. Then she started to head for where she needed to go, the place that required the key she now wore around her neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Church's mentioned friend was always set to be introduced later on in this story, and she will be eventually since this story never actually got that far. She's the OFC in the other stories (which ended up being written before this one was ever finished since those were easier to write at times) that I wrote that have to do with Dean. Read them if you feel like it.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has been edited slightly from the original in certain spots. All these years later I realized it might make sense to at least give one mention of Church's real name, so that is new.

Sam and Dean were at a random restaurant that Dean had chosen. While they ate, Sam had picked up from where he left off in Church’s book. He had managed to read a good section of it during the hour he’d spent alone in her room, and now he’d finished reading it during the hour and a half they had spent at this place so far.   
After he’d finished eating, Dean had gone to flirt with a waitress at the counter who’d been glancing and smiling at him from the moment they’d walked in while Sam sat engrossed in the words on the pages of the book at their table.   
Learning her real name now, Sam had read and reread the section on Celestine “Church” Orday a few times. It mentioned how her family had figured out she was the one of the ones the demon wanted when he started to appear to her in dreams during her childhood. It seemed that over the years since the whole saga had began Ronove visited more and more of the victims that had been promised to him, and had even singled out on a few that he actually seemed to taunt on a constant basis. Church was one of the ones he focused on, but she had encountered him in dreams and in reality more times than any of the others had, which probably made her special in some way or different than the others. Sam wondered why. He was curious if it had to do with hers being the last soul to be collected or if there was something else about her that made this demon basically haunt and hunt her throughout most of her life.   
But something just didn’t add up between this book and Church’s story, and Sam wasn’t sure what it was, so he started scanning through the book again.   
Dean came back to their table and sat down.   
“That Kiki is some waitress, Sam. The only tip she wanted was my number, and to meet for a drink later.” A devilish grin graced Dean’s face.   
“That’s… uh… great, Dean,” Sam sighed, continued leafing through the pages of the book.   
“Find anything we can use in there yet?”   
“Something doesn’t make sense here,” Sam said, closing the book and looking to at his brother.  
“What’s that?” Dean raised his brows in question.  
“The bit about Ronove helping bring Hell to Earth and unleashing something else by collecting all these souls. There’s no mention of it anywhere in this book, so…”   
Dean cut him off. “How does Church know that’s the plan? You’re sure there’s nothing in there about that?”   
“I’ve read the whole thing. There’s nothing about Ronove’s plan in there. If it was in there, I would have seen it,” Sam stated a little harshly.   
“So your girl is hiding something.” Dean looked at Sam a little funny.  
“She’s not my girl,” Sam said, annoyed. He shook his head as he looked at Dean for a brief second before he continued. “But now it certainly appears like she’s hiding something… but what?”   
“That, Sammy, is our million dollar question, and you’re going to ask her it when you’re keeping watch in her room tonight.” Dean smiled.   
Sam coughed, glaring back at his brother. “I’m what?”   
“You’re spending the night in her room, Sam. She already agreed to it, and from what I saw earlier she wants you there. Least this one’s not a demon… well, yet.” Dean tipped his head knowingly. “And just what would your demon girlfriend have to say if she appeared now?”  
“Ruby’s not exactly my girlfriend.” Sam narrowed his eyes, clenched his jaw and held back his annoyance with his brother.   
“You might want to tell her that.” Dean kind of snapped back.   
“I don’t need to because she knows she’s not. And Ruby is… well, she’s Ruby. She’s been there for us, for me, and yeah… so we had, or still sort of have a bit of a thing. So what, Dean?”   
“Ugh, don’t remind me. That was one bedtime story I could have done without hearing about.” Dean shook his head and exaggerated a shudder. “And so what? At least Church is human, not a demon. Ruby might have helped you through a tough time, or saved your ass here and there, but she’s still a demon, Sammy. Even if she is on our side, which you already know, I’m still not fully convinced she is on our side.”   
Sam didn’t know what to say as Dean sort of had him there. It was true, Ruby was and always would be a demon, but so far she’d been nothing but helpful to them or at least to him. And as much as he didn’t want to admit it to Dean, he did care for her quite a bit. “I know you’re not, and I know she’s still a demon, but she still helped pull me out that dark place after you died, Dean,” he paused, “I can’t forget that. I don’t want to either.”  
“You shouldn’t forget that she’s a demon either, Sam. You know they lie, and eventually she will or whatever she has lied about is gonna come out.”   
“Look, like it or not Ruby’s been helpful to both of us in one way or another. And without her I wouldn’t be able to do half of what I can do now. I know you don’t like that I’ve gotten better at my powers, but they have been and will be something that does some good.” Sam stared at his brother with hardened eyes.   
Both of them would never agree when it came to Ruby. Sam liked her, Dean didn’t.   
Dean would never quite trust her, not after the things he knew about demons and hell. It didn’t matter to him that she said she remembered what it was like to be human or that she claimed to want to help Sam in whichever way she was supposedly helping him. He stared back at Sam. “I don’t like it, I never have. I don’t trust her either, no matter what she says to you or whatever it is you feel for her.”   
“Fine.” Sam nodded. He didn’t to fight with Dean over Ruby yet again. As it was right now, Ruby was the least of his concerns and far from his mind actually. He wanted to concentrate on Church and helping her at the moment. He just hoped they somehow could help her.   
The air was tense between the brothers, and a cold silence sat between them as they looked at each other.   
“So, what do you think Church is hiding?” Sam finally asked when he’d had enough of the silence.   
“Something she didn’t want us to know. But like I said, you can ask her tonight.” Dean grinned and winked at his brother to lighten the mood between them.  
Sam groaned, and then decided to ignore what his brother was implying. “I think Ronove probably told her about whatever it is he’s up to. It does say in here that he’s visited her more than any of the others.”   
Dean just gave his brother a look of disbelief. “Then it’s a lie. No demon is going to reveal their actual end game.”   
Sam knew Dean was right. It wasn’t like a demon to give up the master plan. He knew he’d have to ask her about it, and it was one of the many questions he had for her later. “But she should know that, so why would she believe it?”   
“It’s possible she lied to us,” Dean said.   
“I don’t think so, Dean. Did she seem like she was lying to you?”   
“No, but she is hiding something. And you’re going to figure out what that is tonight, while I’m out with Kiki.” Dean looked away from Sam and smiled at the waitress behind the counter.   
Sam sighed. “You ready to get out of here?”   
“Sure, I’ll, uh, meet in the car in a minute.” Dean was still looking at the waitress.   
Sam picked up the book, and walked out to the car. As he waited for Dean, who seemed to be taking longer than a minute, he started to scan through certain sections of the book again. He felt like he missed something but just wasn’t sure what it was.  
The driver’s door swung open and Dean slid into the seat. He looked at Sam with a cheesy grin. “You’re definitely getting laid tonight, Sammy… Bobby just called and you’re going to want to kiss him.” Dean was softly chuckling as he fired up the engine of the Impala.   
Sam looked at his brother, his eyes wide. “He found the crossbow and arrows, didn’t he?”   
“Damn straight he did,” Dean said as they pulled out of the lot and headed back to the motel. 

[ - ]

Church had driven for a little over an hour to a city that was north of the town she was staying in. She hadn’t been here in what felt like forever, but it had only been five years since the last time.   
Her nerves were eating away at her during the drive and now they were reaching their breaking point as she stood staring at the door in front of her.   
She didn’t want to be here right now, but it was time to come back. It was time to deal with the things she had left behind. It was also time to find out about something which she had almost forgotten about from many years ago.   
As Church opened the door to the storage unit, sadness and grief washed over her. This is where she stored her life. Not all of it could accompany her on the road, and because she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of all of it, it had to remain somewhere. The mementos of her childhood, her family, her history, all of it was located within these four grey cold walls she rented.   
Church took a moment to stand in the middle of the space and breathe it in. It wasn’t very fair to have her life in boxes locked up for years on end but there was no other choice. Not when most of her family had already passed or were also in the hunting business and never stayed in one spot for long as well. Even though she’d grown up not far from here, Church didn’t have a place she called home any more. Her family still owned the actual house, and it was still standing, empty and rotting, but still somewhat standing. But it wasn’t her home any longer and hadn’t been for a long time.  
Her eyes found an open box and settled on a picture. She took out the frame and stared at the picture within it. A few tears rolled down her cheeks as she held onto the frame tightly and looked into her eyes and the eyes of the man beside her in the photograph.  
She’d already been a hunter then, but her life had been happier, brighter. The man with her in the photo had been her lover, her best friend, and her partner – he was also from one of the other twelve families, but had not been one of the thirteen from her generation.   
It had been five years since she’d lost him to the demon now. Five years since he’d been ripped not only from her life, but her heart as well. And it still hurt.  
It had never made sense as to why Ronove had killed him, but he was responsible for it. He’d told her so after it happened. Another demon had done it, but it had been done on Ronove’s orders.   
She hadn’t told Sam and Dean about this part of her past, she saw no relevance in mentioning it and opening her old wounds up herself.   
Church placed the frame back in the box and wiped the tears from her eyes. She hadn’t come here to cry or drag up the pain of her past. There was one thing she was after in this storage unit, and she knew exactly where she’d left it.   
After moving aside a large group of boxes and then lifting up a rug that had been lying under them, Church pulled up a panel of the floor to reveal a safe. She had had the safe installed the last time she was here, and only the person who had helped her and she knew that it was here.   
The safe was top of the line and was covered in an assortment of symbols and spells that protected from almost everything supernatural from getting what was inside of it. Sure, a human might stand some chance of getting it in, should all the alarms have been cut. The unit was rigged with them, as was the safe.   
Church went through the series of security measures, one of which required a scan of her hand, dialled in the combination and opened the safe. Then she pulled out an old lockbox and removed the chain from around her neck.   
The key was for the box, and what was in it Church had never been sure. It had been given to her by her grandmother before she had passed away many years ago. She’d sworn to never open it until the time was right. When the time was right, she wasn’t sure she’d ever know, but her grandmother had told her that when it came, she would know it. And she felt now was the time as she only had a few days left if she couldn’t be saved.   
A twist of the key, a pop of the lock, and Church opened the lid of the lockbox. Inside she found an envelope with her name scrawled on the front of it, and underneath it something lay wrapped in a dark velvet cloth.   
She picked up the envelope, opened it and began to read the note that had been left for her, and that was when her hands started to shake and Church’s world was blown apart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is one more chapter to be edited that was written. The originl story had 10, but after condensing them to make each just a little longer, the next one will be the last before the attempt to finish this story finally after way too many years later. Lots of writing to do...  
> Hope you're enjoying it if you've stuck out reading all of it. Would be great to hear what anyone that is reading thinks. It might take some time to edit the next chapter as I'm trying to work on 3 stories at once. So if you happen to be waiting and it takes too long - please let me know!   
> Thanks for taking the time to read!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, up until the first break (the [ - ]) in the chapter is all part of the original story posted way back in 2009 over on fanfiction. While there has been some editing to all of it, that was all there was. It made this chapter super short. So everything that comes after that first break is new and yet not. It was written as part of the next chapter back then that remained unfinished and was never posted. With some minor additions and editing, it all made up what you will be reading after this note. Hopefully it's not as dreadfully cheesy to any readers as it all sounds to me now.

“So wait, Bobby tracked it down that quickly? When do we get it then?” Sam asked as he and Dean got out of the car and went into their motel room.  
“Yeah, he traced it back to the last person known to have it and probably still has it,” Dean said as he sat down on his bed. “But I don’t know when we’ll get it.”   
“Is he going to pick it up?” Sam sat on his bed and turned on his laptop.  
“Um… no.”   
Now Sam wasn’t sure what was going on. Bobby knew they needed the crossbow and arrows, but he wasn’t going to get them? There had to be some sort of reason for the delay. “No? He knows we need them, so what’s the hold up?”   
Dean eyed his brother curiously. “He’s waiting for the person to call back first.”   
“Oh, okay… hope we can get them in time then.” Sam went quiet and started searching for things related to Ronove.   
“Hey, when has Bobby ever not come through for us?” Dean flicked on the TV and started channel surfing.   
“That’s true.” Sam put the laptop aside and picked up his phone. He called Church and listened to her phone ring on the other end. It rang a few times before her voicemail greeting kicked in.  
He sighed and hung up before the beep went off. He wanted to share this news with her even if it was only half good. There was no guarantee that they would be able to get their hands on the crossbow and its arrows in time, but as Dean had pointed out, Bobby always came through for them. He just hoped that Ronove wouldn’t show up before then.   
Sam called her again and this time left a short message asking Church to call him back because they’d heard from Bobby. Then he went back to researching on his laptop while Dean watched a movie. 

[ - ]

Five hours had passed since they’d been back at the motel and Church still hadn’t called Sam back yet.   
He’d given up on researching what he could find out about Ronove. He hadn’t found that much anyway, and now wanted to borrow the book he’d seen Church reading at the diner the other night.   
Sam tried just hanging out and watching whatever it was Dean had on, but his mind was elsewhere. He was wrapped up in trying to put the pieces that didn’t add up together from Church’s story and her book. How she apparently knew what the plan was still didn’t make sense, because despite what she had said, it wasn’t actually anywhere in the book she had given him to read.  
There was also the deal of them maybe not getting the crossbow and its arrows in time that was bugging him. There was still no word from Bobby again on where it was or when they might be able to get it, so apparently the older hunter was still waiting on a call himself.  
Sam was also a little worried that he hadn’t heard back from Church by now too. He had no idea what she had to do, where it was she’d gone, or if something had happened to her in the meantime. He tried calling her again, but once again there was no answer and he didn’t want to fill up her inbox with messages when he’d left her three already.   
“Dude, what are you, twelve and waiting by the phone for your first crush to call back?” Dean had noticed Sam checking his phone, fidgeting, and the few phone calls he’d made to Church already.   
Sam groaned. “Church knew I’d call her when we heard from Bobby. It’s already been like six hours since she left, Dean. She probably should have called back by now.”   
Dean stifled a little bit of a chuckle. “She can take care of herself, Sammy. Wouldn’t be much of a hunter if she couldn’t.”   
“I know, it’s just… she was waiting for Bobby to call too. So you’d think she’d be in touch now that we have news… unless Ronove ambushed her somewhere.” Sam was getting worried, and he was sure that not only could Dean see it, but could also hear it in his voice.  
“No chance. He’s not coming for her on her own when he knows we’re here. Ronove wouldn’t pass up another shot at me, or at both of us.” Dean tried to reassure Sam. He knew how Ronove acted, knew that was one demon that wouldn’t refuse taking a chance at destroying them now that he knew they were trying to help Church. If vengeance was a beast then so was Ronove. Dean knew that bastard would try to kill him up here since he had enjoyed and had too much fun torturing him for a little while in Hell the time he’d paid him a visit down there.  
“You’re sure about that?” Sam had to ask even though he trusted Dean.   
“Of course,” Dean paused as smirked at his brother, “and when he does come, he’s going home without the last soul he needs to complete his full bag of goodies. We’re not gonna let that son of a bitch get what he wants.”   
Sam nodded. “I hope you’re right,” he muttered.   
“I am, just like when I tell you Church will show up,” Dean’s tone was confident. He wasn’t sure that was the case, but for Sam he tried to make it sound that way.  
“Yeah, okay. And yeah, she probably will be back shortly.” Sam downplayed it now.   
“And you’ll be keeping watch in her room when she does, and while I’m out. Speaking of… don’t want to keep that waitress waiting by sitting here any longer watching you mope around.” Dean grinned devilishly as he got up and put on his jacket.   
Sam was going to say something, but then stopped himself. “All right. Have fun.”   
“Untwist your panties, you’ll hear back from her soon enough, Sammy.”   
“Uh huh. Night, Dean.”   
“Call me if anything happens… have a good night with Church, Sammy. You need it.” Dean walked out of the door and headed off to his date.   
Sam sat there for a moment before he tried calling Church again. There was still no answer and even though he knew Dean was right, he couldn’t help but worry about where she was or what had happened to her. He had a feeling that all this silence from her was nothing good.   
As Dean was about to get into his car, he noticed another one a few spaces over. There was a sweet and sleek looking red ’70 GTO in the parking lot that hadn’t been there before. It was parked sitting under one of the lot’s lights, and it was buffed to a shine that caught his eye. He took a moment to appreciate the beauty of another classic car. While it would never compare to his baby, it still deserved to be admired for the condition it was in so he went to have a closer look.   
That’s when he noticed who was sitting in the driver’s seat – Church. It was a surprise when he hadn’t expected to see her just then, let alone in a car like that.  
He wondered then what was going on. If she was here, why wasn’t she answering her phone? Why hadn’t she come to see them in their room either? Sam had called her at least a dozen times, left her a few messages, Bobby had probably called her too, and yet here she was sitting in her car appearing to be a little zoned out.  
While he didn’t want to be late, Dean couldn’t ignore the fact that she was there, so he wandered closer and tapped on the driver’s side window.  
Church jumped in her seat, looked at the window, and quickly recognized Dean as her mind came out of the mental fog she was in. She rolled down the window and threw on the best fake smile she could muster up. “Hey, Dean.” She folded the letter that was in her hand back up as she looked at him.   
“Nice ride, Church.” He rested a hand on the roof of the car, took a quick but better look at the interior of her car and noticed that she was just slipping something into her bag, her hands shaking as she did it.   
“Thanks.” Another faked grin, and this time she looked past him instead of at him, hoping he wasn’t going to talk for much longer.  
“Everything okay?” He could tell something was up with her. He could read fake smiles better than most since he’d been giving his own to other people for most of his life, and she had just flashed him two in the span of a minute.  
“Yeah, everything’s great.” Church knew she could mask the lie in her tone to hide the fact that everything was far from great, but she could only hope her eyes didn’t show the truth.  
“Okay.” Dean knew she was lying, but he wasn’t going to pry when Sam could do that. She seemed more likely to open up to his brother. “So… uh, Sam’s been calling you like a preteen with puppy love. He’s worried something happened to you, so you might to call him back.”   
Church gasped softly. The sharp intake of breath was so slight, but she knew Dean had heard it. If only they knew what had happened to her after she’d left here earlier, that this entire mess had just gotten more complicated. She wasn’t sure she could tell them, but knew she would have to eventually, but not right now. Her mind still hadn’t taken hold of the words she had read. “Oh, I guess I better check in with him then. Wait,” she paused, “puppy love?” She chuckled a little, trying to pretend everything was normal.   
“Yeah, so you should invite him back to your room.” Dean grinned. “He can give you the good news, and whatever else you might want.”   
She laughed at the last part of Dean’s comment. Then it clicked in, he’d said good news. “There’s good news?”   
“Uh huh, but Sammy should give it to you.” He wanted to add “in more ways than one” to that, but he decided against it. He could tease them both about spending the night together tomorrow.  
“I guess… wait… are you headed out or something?”   
“Got a date, which I’m now late for,” Dean said as he looked at his watch. “Have a good night with my brother, Church.” Dean smiled at her before he started to walk back to his car.   
“Thanks, Dean. Have fun with your date.” Church rolled up her window and grabbed her bag from the passenger’s seat before she got out of her car.   
Dean sat in the Impala waiting for a moment while he watched Church lock up her GTO and then head into her room. He knew without a doubt that she was definitely hiding something, but didn’t have an idea as to what it might be. He’d let Sam try to figure it out tonight, and if not then he’d get on it himself tomorrow. Right now all he wanted was a beer or two and the company of a pretty girl for awhile to forget the feeling he had that things were about to literally go to hell for them once again. It had been way too quiet lately for it not to, and whatever Church was hiding was bound to come out soon enough or maybe Ronove would come for her first.   
_Damn it, things are definitely going to go to Hell one way or another,_ Dean thought as he drove away to meet his date.

[ - ]

Church paced her motel room for about ten minutes. Her mind was still trying to grasp a hold on everything in the letter her grandmother had written her, what she felt about it, and what she was going to do. She still felt lost and stunned at the same time.   
She had just been sitting in her car for awhile when Dean had found her.  
Time was missing, and she had no idea how she’d driven back to the motel or when she had for that matter, just that she had gone through the motions to get here.  
Church remembered reading the letter, feeling as if the floor had been ripped out from underneath her, and then suddenly she was back here with Dean tapping on her car window. How long had she been just sitting there, she didn’t know. Didn’t even recall hearing her phone ring a bunch of times either when Dean had said Sam had called her a lot and that he was worried about her.  
 _Sam._  
Sighing, she pulled her phone out of her pocket before sitting down on the bed. She had missed bunch of calls and had five messages. Sam had called numerous times, Bobby had called once, and an unknown number had also called.   
All but one of the messages were from Sam asking her to call him back, wanting to know if she was okay, wondering where she was. The other was from Bobby asking her to call him when she got a chance.  
Church knew she had to call Sam back, but what would she say? What could she say? How could she lie? She was sure he’d see right through it when she did lie to him, and even though she didn’t want to lie to him, she had to for tonight at least. She was sure that out of anyone else, Sam would understand the most about what she’d just learned. She just didn’t have the guts to say the words out loud yet, or the strength to bear the weight they would carry when they settled in for real, though.  
Sam could make her feel safe, as if the world wasn’t spinning out of control around her. And he cared. It was obvious in how many calls he’d made to her, and in his voice with each new message. Sweet Sammy, he was, and it was just as the demon had said when they’d been at the diner that morning.  
And didn’t they have some unfinished business to attend to since Dean had burst in on them earlier and ruined the moment? She hoped so.  
Taking a deep breath, Church tried to center herself. She went to call Sam back, then hesitated. Another deep breath to help calm her nerves a little more and then she made the call.   
Sam picked up after the first ring. “Hi, Church.” His voice said he was glad to finally hear back from her.   
“Hey, Sam, sorry I haven’t called you back until now. There was some stuff I had to do and I kinda lost track of time.” When all good lies held a bit of truth, Church knew it was believable when she wasn’t exactly lying about it. She had lost track of time.  
“That’s alright, Church. I’m just glad to hear you’re okay.” Sam knew he probably sounded lame, but he didn’t care. He had been worried that Ronove had caught up with her and he hadn’t been around to do anything about it.   
“Yeah… so I heard from Dean a few minutes ago that you have some good news to share. Want to come over and tell me about it?” She tried putting everything else out of her mind. Maybe there was hope still.  
“Sure,” he said without hesitation. There was good news to share, and maybe they could also pick up from where Dean had interrupted earlier. Sam was a little hopeful on that front now, even if he knew he shouldn’t be. “I’ll be over in a few minutes, okay?”   
“Sure, and oh, just knock and then come in, Sam. I know you’re on your way, so…”   
“Yeah, okay, I will. See you in a few.”   
Both of them hung up, and set about sort of fixing themselves up a little before Sam made his way over to Church’s room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully anyone reading is still liking it.  
> Another chapter may take some time to write, but I will try not to neglect this one and figure out a new one as soon as I can. This story has been fun to re-edit and add over here while struggling with the other ones. Now if I can figure out what to do with it as the original idea on where to go with it is out...  
> Okay, anyone who is - thanks for reading so far! Hope to put up a new chapter for those who are enjoying as soon as possible.  
> Feedback always welcomed.

**Author's Note:**

> Hoping I didn't butcher the boys too badly! The chapters in this story were shorter compared to the other ones, so it might be lacking some oomph.


End file.
